Allentown merchant playing on nostalgia

The Video Game Store brings old gaming to downtown Allentown.

Owner Steve Greene stands in the DVD section of The Video Game Store , which… (HARRY FISHER, THE MORNING…)

January 14, 2012|Retail Watch | Scanning the Storefronts

Downtown Allentown's retail world has seen some major changes in recent months, with merchants being uprooted to pave the way for the much-ballyhooed minor league hockey arena.

City blocks once home to barbershops, boutiques and a pizzeria have been hollowed out. But while some buildings have been reduced to rubble, others have been given new life. Just a block from the demolition, a new merchant has popped up, playing on gamers' nostalgia.

Steve Greene opened The Video Game Store in Wilkes-Barre nearly a decade ago with plans to eventually expand into Scranton and Allentown.

He opened a store in Scranton shortly after, and just days ago he set up shop in Allentown.

Armed with what he describes as a surplus of thousands of games from his Wilkes-Barre store, Greene opened The Video Game Store in the recently renovated 809-813 Hamilton St. building, across from Allentown Brew Works.

The store is like a walk through the past with old-school consoles such as Atari, Nintendo, Genesis, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation, just to name a few. It could be a museum of video games past and present, some of which took me back to my youth.

Greene said he has stacks of Atari and Nintendo game consoles, which he sells for $30 and $40 respectively. He also has stacks of old games, such as Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Zelda and Donkey Kong.

Also for sale are current consoles like PS3 and Xbox 360, in addition to a substantial collection of used VHS, DVD and Blu-ray movies.

The Lehigh Valley has added video game stores in recent years, including Planet Games in Emmaus and several GameStop locations.

The Video Game Store is the inaugural tenant for the two-story glass and concrete downtown structure that developer Richard Kontir gutted and renovated last year. The space can house four merchants on the lower level and construction crews are nearing completion of four loft apartments on the second floor.

Kontir said he's in talks with other potential retailers, but many appear to be waiting on the arrival of the hockey arena.

In other Allentown retail news:

Construction crews are busy making renovations at the Lehigh Valley Grand Prix go-kart track at 649 S. 10th St.

The $200,000 project will add a bar and restaurant at the track.

The Octane-Adrenaline Bar and Restaurant will be unveiled during a NASCAR viewing party and 500-lap race on Feb. 26, its owners said.

Grand Prix partner Michael McCreary said customers wanted more and the owners listened.

"We get customers from close to a 60-mile radius and they come in here and it's like a stay-cation for many people," McCreary said. "It's like if you go to a movie theater, you're there and you're looking for food, too."

To make sure no one races while drunk, the track will have safeguards such as bracelets and Breathalyzers.

A lot of readers have been asking for an update on the Golden Corral.

In short: It's coming to the Lehigh Valley, but the company is hush-hush on many details.

On Monday evening, Whitehall Township officials gave the now-popular-again buffet chain approval to build a 400-seat restaurant at the former site site of Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant at the Lehigh Valley Mall, according to township Mayor Ed Hozza.

So after abandoning its location on Chestnut Street in Emmaus in 2005, Golden Corral is coming back.

Television commercials have helped boost Golden Corral's profile, and buffets in general also have gained in popularity as consumers seek more value for their money.

Golden Corral will go head to head with Old Country Buffet in the Whitehall Mall and a sea of similar eateries on MacArthur Road.

The closest Golden Corral to the Valley now is in Bensalem Township, Bucks County.

Other Whitehall retail news:

Furniture giant Raymour & Flanigan has relocated to new digs at the former Borders/Famous Footwear/Tweeter space in the Whitehall Mall.

The new location boasts 60,000 square feet.

Raymour & Flanigan's formerly was next to Ross at 2180 MacArthur Road.

Speaking of MacArthur Road, fencing recently went up at the demolition site of the former Sam's Club next to Walmart.

The Walmart will eventually become a Walmart Supercenter, which means big things like a full-service supermarket.

The Lehigh Valley has been spared from some corporate downsizing in recent weeks. First, the parent company of Sears, Kmart and Sears Hardware did not include any Valley stores in its list of closures.

So far, the chain identified 79 of as many as 120 stores that are planned to shutter. The Valley has nearly a dozen stores owned by Sears Holding Inc.

Second, the beleaguered Friendly's ice cream and restaurant chain emerged from bankruptcy protection days ago, but not before another round of restaurant closures.

The Massachusetts-based chain reportedly targeted dozens of restaurants with high rents in Connecticut, New York and a few in the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre region.